Francisco Oropesa, left, and Divimara Lamar Nava, right. (FBI Houston; Montgomery County Jail)
Multiple people have now been arrested in connection with the man believed to be responsible for a recent mass shooting in Texas.
Francisco Oropesa, 38, eluded law enforcement for several days after the fatal weekend violence that took the lives of five people in Cleveland, Texas, a small city some 50 miles north of Houston.
The suspect was arrested on Tuesday, hiding under a pile of laundry, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said.
A woman was arrested after a tip led law enforcement to a house in Cut and Shoot, Texas, a city in Montgomery County, roughly 11 miles from the crime scene.
Officials announced the additional arrests on Wednesday.
Conflicting media reports have identified the woman as Oropesa’s wife and domestic partner. The New York Times has called her “the woman described as his wife.”
Houston-based ABC affiliate KTRK, citing a source involved in the investigation, identified the woman as Oropesa’s domestic partner, not his wife.
That woman, Divimara Lamar Nava, 52, is being detained in the Montgomery County Jail on a charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon. Her bond is set at $250,000.
Officials have said that Nava appeared to have been cooperating with law enforcement throughout the search but that she was at the residence where the defendant was found on Tuesday. They now believe she was helping Oropesa evade capture.
San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon also referred to Oropesa’s “wife” in comments to NBC News on Tuesday, relaying an incident in June 2022 when she claimed that Oropesa had punched her in the face and kicked her backside, face, and mouth before storming off and breaking a gate.
The woman declined medical attention then and refused to press charges, but she filed a request for a protective order, Dillon said.
JCSO Chief Deputy Tim Kean said several arrests had been made, and more arrests were likely.
“Anybody that helped this maniac definitely has some kind of issues as far as I’m concerned,” Kean told KTRK.
While other people have been arrested, Kean told the TV station, he declined to release their names or note their alleged relationship to the suspect. He said they were not located inside the house where Oropesa was found.
Just before midnight on Friday, a man killed five of his neighbors, including an 8-year-old boy, in an “execution-style” shooting with an AR-style rifle after one of the victims asked him to stop shooting in his front yard because his baby was trying to sleep.
A statewide manhunt ensued. State and federal officials combed the Lone Star State as far as the U.S.-Mexico border.
The tip that led to the arrests came at 5:15 p.m., FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Houston Field Office Jimmy Paul said. The suspect was taken into custody at 6:30 p.m.
Oropesa was initially charged with one count of felony murder in the first degree. He is being held on $5 million bond.
“The initial count was a $5 million bond. We felt that was sufficient to detain him until further investigation takes place,” Dillon told KTRK on Wednesday. “The other four are likely to be filed and can happen as soon as today.”
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